Where has this saxist been? Kindred truly
is a musical treasure, and his illustrious guest list shows that
many of his kindred performers also admire his clean and direct
playing. Classical clarinetist Stoltzman says he wishes he could
play Mozart Like Bob Kindred plays jazz! In addition to the above
players, Bill Mays and Bill Charlap share the piano position, and
the venerated Grady Tate is the drummer on some tracks, sharing
with percussionist John Kaye. The 11 tracks range from standards
like "Body and Soul" to hits from Sonny Rollins, Mal
Waldron and Billy Strayhorn, plus some originals. Each track has
a different instrumentation -- from solo piano to quintet.
"Soul Eyes," the longest, is a gorgeous vehicle for
clarinet, cello and vibes. This one stands out distinctly from
the mass of tenor-based albums.

Songwriters had been borrowing tunes from
symphony and opera at least since 1917 when Chopin was plundered
for "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," but it was in the
late 30's or early 40's that big bands took to swinging the
classics in a major way. There was much indignation from stuffy
quarters about such sacrilege of longhair melodies, but with
today's musical cross-pollination plus the recent surge of
interest in classical music, these 23 fun tracks are now up to
date. The title track is the rarest of them all and the only
vocal, with hilarious l939 lyrics sung by "Dolly Dawn and
her Dawn Patrol." The Thornhill and Les Brown tracks are
especially nice arrangements; some others work and some don't.
Classical chestnuts swung here include the "Bolero",
"O Sole Mio", "The Minute Waltz", "Dance
of the Sugar Plum Fairy", "Humoresque",
"Procession of the Sardar", and "The Sabre
Dance". If this collection was as scratchy, rumbly and
distorted as most CD reissues of old 78s used to be, it would be
of strictly historical interest -- for those able to "hear
through" the awful sonics. But with recent sophistication in
selecting proper styli and EQ, and various computer cleanup
processes such as Sonic Solutions, Weiss, and CEDAR, many
reissues are now thoroughly listenable. This is one of the best!

Pianist Jessica Williams is well known up
and down the West Coast, and from several recordings over the
years. Her style is direct, spontaneous and imaginative without
venturing too avant and losing listeners. The album was taped
live to two-track DAT at a club in Portland Oregon during one
evening's sets, in order to preserve the spontaneity. The
audience sits close to the performers and stays as quiet as at an
MJQ concert, and there was fortunately no PA system. The result
is a feeling of really being there, and pleasure in following the
often unpredictable turns of tune that Williams' fingers take us
on. "If I Were a Bell" is a major work at nearly 14
minutes; "The Sheikh" is an original, and Monk-fan
Williams winds up with Thelonious' rousing "We See." As
with most minimal-miked live tapings, this CD decodes beautifully
on any surround system.

John Sunier

Planet
Squeezebox
Accordion Music from Around the World

A boxed set of 3 CDs plus an illustrated
56-page booklet
Ellipsis Arts CD3470
Over 3 hours total

Performance:

Varies

Audio Quality:

Varies, of course

The accordion is making its way into more
and more pop music without being laughed at, but this fascinating
compilation proves it to have been the most versatile reed
instrument around the world for a long time. Over 40 different
international musical traditions are sampled in the 51 tracks of
this collection, aided by the photos of performances and detailed
notes about their music. Many of the tracks are unavailable
elsewhere.

The jazz, classical and tango attracted me
the most. The major discovery was the single track by Alice Hall,
who in the 1940's played with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Benny
Goodman, and Duke Ellington. She's the Horowitz of jazz
accordion. But the countries that the squeezebox has found a home
around the world also turned out to be just as interesting
reading about as well as listening. These included folk
traditions of Egypt, Bulgaria, Indonesia, France, Basque country,
Columbia, Cape Verde, Brazil, Quebec, Italy, Ireland, Dominican
Republic and elsewhere. Of course an accordion sampler wouldn't
be worth anything without some healthy stomping tracks of Cajun,
Zydeco and Tex-Mex music.

There's some bizarre accordion discoveries
here too. One is a sort of Bavarian punk accordion trio; another
is a strangely beautiful but difficult to describe brand of
Finnish accordion music. Of course, there are many polka tracks,
and one of the most unique interpretations is Guy Klucevsek's
avant-garde new music polkas. The use of the instrument in such
cultures as South Africa, Indonesia and the Arab world were new
to my ears. Some of the history of the accordion and its various
iteration around the world are also documented in the very
attractive booklet with the set. I'll be sure to remember this
album is in my large library -- partly because it's one of those
non-standard sizes that sticks up twice the height of a normal
CD.

Billie Holliday or Lady Day as she was
known, brought to the world of music a normal, non-polished feel.
Coming out of the era of vaudeville and speak-easys, Holliday
developed her own particular style from the artists of her day.
From the earthy gut sound of Louis Armstrong, to the smoothness
of Frank Sinatra, musicians were influenced. This CD brings to
life Billie Holliday in all of her glory. Sony Corporation has
digitally remastered sixteen of her favorite love songs. All of
the songs are standard hits, and give the listener a glimpse at
Holliday's non-emotional interpretation. She truly believed that
the song should sway the listener, not the overall performance.
This CD is for those who are seeking music from an earlier era
and want to know more about the jazz of the 1930's and 1940's.

New Orleans Jazz and its offshoots is the
theme for this 1992 recording by the world famous brass quintet
known as the Canadian Brass. Masters of intrepretation in nearly
every style they manage to tackle, the Brass treat listeners to a
full palette of Amercian Jazz styles and textures. Whetting the
appetite are such old time favorites as "Black Bottom
Stomp," "Kitten on the Keys," and "Bill
Bailey." The rendition of a jazz funeral in "Nearer My
God To Thee" will have you wanting to visit New Orleans and
see this happening first hand. The intent of Jazz is to promote
activity and to communicate to its audiences the feeling and
emotions of the performer. This could not be more true with The
Dixieland Album. It will definitely have your toes thumbing and
your body moving. An excellent choice to chase the
"blues" away.